Photo courtesy of Jim Wells - PostMedia

The Prairie Conference semi-finals took place on Sunday afternoon and were decided by a combined two points after two very exciting games.  When the dust settled the #1 Saskatoon Hilltops will host #2 Calgary Colts next week in the Conference championship game.

Saskatoon Hilltops 25
Regina Thunder 24

It was the 22nd time these two franchises met in the post season and they did not disappoint the large crowd at SMF Field.  The Hilltops held onto the victory when the Thunder missed a 36 yard field with under two minutes to play, which brought the score within one.

The Hilltops had trouble running the football against the front seven of the Thunder.  Logan Fischer did manage 63 yards on 14 carries and scored a major.  

Quarterback Jared Andreychuk continues to play well in the playoffs finishing with 15 completions for 204 yards and found Ryan Turple for a 24 yard touchdown.

The back breaker for the Thunder came in the third quarter when Hilltops linebacker Cody Peters blocked a punt at the Thunder five and Adam Benkic recovered it and rumbled in for a touchdown.

Like the Hilltops, the Thunder had trouble moving the ball on the ground.  PFC rushing champ Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette was held to 53 yards on 14 carries and scored a touchdown.  Quarterback Sawyer Buettner also scored on the ground.  Through the air he was 24 of 43 for 316 yards.

Kicker James Reid was a perfect 3-3 in the game until his 36 yard attempt sailed wide with 1:46 to play in the fourth quarter.

The Hilltops will now host the Calgary Colts for the third straight year in the Conference final next Sunday at 1:00pm.  The winner will fly to BC for the 2016 Canadian Bowl on November 12th.

Calgary Colts 11
Edmonton Huskies 10

The offences moved the football, but didn’t have much to show for it on the scoreboard until the Colts scored with under two minutes to play to secure the victory and punch their ticket to the Conference final.

With 1:23 left in the game quarterback Bailey Wasdal found Dylan Schrot for a touchdown to push the Colts in front.  It was Wasdal’s third completion of the game and Schrot’s second catch.  Both Wasdal and Duncan Little combined for 8 of 17 and 85 yards against the Huskies.

On the ground Dylan Minshull rumbled 14 times for 115 yards, while Xavier Ramsay rushed nine times for 54 yards.

Defensively Colton Burr and Luc Catellier each had a playoff high 10 solo tackles.  Dylan Niedermaier intercepted a pass and Jmin Pelley had the lone sack.

The Edmonton Huskies saw an outstanding game from quarterback Brad Launardt who finished 29 of 48 for 242 yards and threw a touchdown pass Darian Grymaloski.  An impressive nine different receivers caught passes on Sunday.  Launardt also rushed 13 times for 61 yards in the loss.

The Huskies outgained the Colts with 435 yards of total offence.

Defensively the Huskies were outstanding holding the Colts high powered offence to 257 yards of total offence.    Both Geatano Minto and Daniele Loggale intercepted passes and Bryce Lea had the lone sack.

The Colts now move onto the Prairie Conference final and will face the Saskatoon Hilltops for the third straight year.  The winner moves onto the 2016 Canadian Bowl in BC on Saturday November 12.

The Prairie Conference All-Stars and Most Outstanding Players will be announced this week.